THE WELSH Rugby Union have revealed record losses of more than &#xA3;3.7m for the financial year 2002-03.

This net deficit includes the writing off of some &#xA3;1.9m in investments in four of Wales' leading clubs as a result of the switch to regional rugby.

The loss - before taking "extraordinary items" into account - is &#xA3;1,336,826, which compares with a profit of &#xA3;214,656 in the previous year.

This is put down mainly to a fall in turnover, with the number of home Six Nations fixtures reduced from four to two.

In addition, the union had financial stakes in Swansea (&#xA3;700,000), Llanelli (&#xA3;500,000), Pontypridd (&#xA3;500,000) and Ebbw Vale (&#xA3;230,000), which have now been effectively written off with the reorganisation of the pro game.

And a further &#xA3;500,000 has been taken into account as a "provision against club indebtedness".

These figures combined to create an overall deficit for the year of &#xA3;3,781,822.

However, with the inclusion of Millennium Stadium plc and Gowerpark Ltd, the WRU Groups consolidated loss totalled &#xA3;2,599,195 compared with a profit of &#xA3;296,053 for 2001-02.

Although there was a reduction in sponsorship income, television rights increased over the period by &#xA3;992,428.

Costs were cut across the board, with reduced national squad costs and the dropping of the Wales A team enabling a total saving of more than &#xA3;300,000.

WRU group chief executives David Moffett said, "The figures are obviously not as we would like them, but we have been through an extraordinary 12 months.

"Many of the decisions we have taken in the past year will help us to improve the financial performance of all strands of the group.

"Measures have been taken to cut costs wherever possible and we have already delivered many major savings at the WRU."